


Of Haunted Houses and Reluctant Break-ins

by Cloudy



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Does KID show up? who knows?, Gen, conan also babysits, gift fic for DCMK Secret Santa, saguru babysits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 11:43:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13076163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudy/pseuds/Cloudy
Summary: The Detective Boys wonder about Kudou Shin'ichi's disappearance, and whether or not his ghost haunts the halls of the Kudou mansion. Meanwhile, Saguru tries to work a case that's not even considered a case by the police force, determined to learn more about the fellow teenage detective.A fic written for tumblr user Herosubs for the DCMK Secret Santa.





	Of Haunted Houses and Reluctant Break-ins

The kids were on again about his house being haunted. Speculating about whether its occupants had died, whether “that detective guy” was a ghost haunting the house.

“It’s so big and scary when you see that house at night, isn’t it?” Ayumi was saying, gesturing widely and excitedly as she and the other kids ate their lunch. “Even during the day it seems gloomy!”

Conan isn’t sure what had gotten them on about this. Ayumi and Genta seemed most excited about the prospect of a haunted house--Mitsuhiko, meanwhile, was most heated about trying to convince his friends that ghosts weren’t real. Conan had elected to stay out of it, observing Haibara, who had been looking on in amusement.

They exchange a look and mutually shake their heads, and Conan picks at the lunch Ran had put together for him. He is so focused on trying to tune out his friends’ chatter (preferring not to hear about theories about whether he was a dead ghost haunting his house) that he misses the point where they all decide to visit the ‘scary mansion’ to prove once and for all whether or not there was a ghost there. Haibara winds up being the one to bring it to his attention.

“It would seem,” she notes, leaning partially into his space. “That we are going to Kudou-kun’s house tonight after school?” She seems to think it a less-than-great idea, but it doesn’t seem she plans to do anything about it.

More than anything, Conan is annoyed, not wanting to go to his house and have to pretend to be Conan and have the kids with him. If he goes to the manor, he’d rather do it on his own, so he can reminisce and feel sorry for himself in peace. “Oi oi, wouldn’t it be more fun to do something else instead?” he pipes up, knowing he’s a little belated but not caring. Kids have weird attention spans, anyway.

Conan had believed he’d won them over for a while, because he convinced them that after school they should go to the nearby arcade. Unfortunately the Detective Boys collectively only had so much pocket change, and the supply was exhausted all too quickly. With no more games to keep them occupied, it is Mitsuhiko who announces that they should go to the Kudou Manor now. Undoubtedly, he is bent on proving to his friends that there is no spirit haunting the halls.

The kids dismiss and otherwise ignore all subsequent protests and attempts at derailing the goal. Angrily, Ayumi accuses Conan of trying to distract them from this just like he does with cases, as if there is some sort of credit to be gained from proving that his _definitely not haunted_ house is, indeed, definitely not haunted. The boys agree with her, and at this point, all of them filled with some sort of rebellious ire because _screw him, specifically, apparently,_ he must accept that there is truly no stopping them. It will be fine. He just has to grit his teeth and bear it, get it over with. Whatever.

The familiar sight of his house is neither comforting nor upsetting, exactly. Just--frustrating. A reminder of everything out of reach right now. Though, living with Ran is a reminder of that too, so there isn’t really any escaping it, anyway. He hopes that as they approached the gates, they will assume they’re locked. Conan knows for a fact that them being locked isn’t likely, since they tend to be left unlocked so Ran can easily get to the front door.

Unfortunately--as shouldn’t be surprising at all--the Detective Boys are not easily deterred. They do try to open the gate, and they do succeed, and Conan refrains from voicing his own disappointment. He sighs, shoves his hands into his pockets and, all but literally dragging his feet, follows them up to the doorstep. It’s stupid, there’s no reason to really be dreading this, because the door will be locked and the kids aren’t going to be able to break in.

The kids stand on the front step, speculating about getting inside, realizing that if the door is locked, they have no point of entry. Neither Conan nor Haibara offer their opinions or insights into the problem--something the kids don’t seem to notice or care about.

“Well, we can always try just opening the door,” Genta posits impatiently, going straight for the simplest solution. As if minor celebrities would just leave their house open to the public--

But the door opens. Conan’s blood runs cold. Haibara, from beside him, seems to stiffen slightly, noting along with him just how unlikely it is that his own front door wouldn’t be locked.

“Hey...that’s weird, isn’t it? Especially since nobody’s probably home,” Conan pipes up. He needs to get rid of these kids and get to the bottom of this without them here. If They are at his house, then he doesn’t want to expose Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko to that kind of danger.

Genta is already inside, though, and Mitsuhiko is following after. Only Ayumi hesitates on the threshold, watching the boys ahead of her. Maybe she, at least, will listen. If she listens, the other two are sure to follow, right?

Conan starts to speak, but Ayumi shakes her head and hurries after the other boys. “Genta! Mitsuhiko! Wait for the rest of us, what if the ghost gets you?” she gasps. “We need to stick together!”

This is bad… Conan heads after the group, knowing it’s too late to simply reason with them. If he just lets them go rushing in, who knows what could happen? He can tell Haibara is behind him, even with as quietly as she follows. “Wait for us!” Conan hisses, considerably more hushed than the others, glad Ayumi is at least keeping the boys from splitting off. Now if only he could get them to leave.

“It doesn’t...feel like any of them are here,” Haibara offers. It’s not the best reassurance, but it helps. But just because Haibara doesn’t feel like one of Them is here doesn’t mean there isn’t something dangerous. The worst part of all this is that, if there is someone else in the house right now, the other kids have already announced themselves with their initial chattering.

“Quiet _down_ ,” Conan hisses, stress making his words harsher. The kids look to him, finally giving up on ignoring him. “That door was unlocked. Ghosts or not, I don’t think a ghost unlocked that door. There could have been a break-in. If the culprit is still here, we need to be careful,” he growls, keeping his voice low.

The kids seem to sober up from their earlier, more excitable behavior.

“Well, let’s find out if there’s anybody here,” Mitsuhiko announces resolutely, marching ahead before anybody can argue with him. Conan exhales, aggravated, trying to figure out if he should call the police. If he should at least alert the professor. If one of Them is here, contacting the police could make the situation worse. But if they’re here, and he manages to incapacitate them, and the police are on their way, he has a much better chance of getting answers. But it could also push Them into acting way more dangerously, if the police show up--he’s thinking in circles. Best to just play it by ear for now, right?

His heart won’t stop pounding. It makes his chest hurt. He and the kids look around the lower level of the house, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) finding nothing.

“I wonder if it was a thief? It doesn’t look like anything’s messed up though,” Mitsuhiko thinks aloud.

“Maybe the ghost unlocked the door after all,” Ayumi contributes.

“There is _no ghost_ ,” Mitsuhiko says, exasperated. “This is a mansion, there was probably a thief or something.” Mitsuhiko is becoming more and more definite in his rash deduction, though to his credit it’s not as if it’s an irrational suspicion.

“Whatever it is,” Conan reminds them as they head up the stairs (he’s taken the lead now, guiding everyone with his flashlight watch). “There could be something dangerous waiting. You guys need to be careful. You might need to run.”

It doesn’t make any sense for a thief to be in his house. Nothing’s missing, nothing’s trashed. It’s obvious nobody was rooting around in his family’s possessions. If somebody broke in, they weren’t here to take something. Not a comforting thought at all.

Conan freezes, sure he had heard something like scuffling in one of the bedrooms. Something moving, but he can’t pinpoint what. Not footsteps, but... “Stay here,” he orders, and he sounds grim enough that the kids have the good sense to listen. Clicking a button on his watch, he turns off his flashlight, letting his eyes adjust to the dimness, and then sets up his tranq dart, shuffling toward the guest bedroom--where he heard the sound from.

He opens the door slowly, scanning it for any sort of sign. Anything out of place, anything like curtains moving from the shifting of air. Nothing about the room was out of ordinary, though. Tentatively, he switches his light setting back on, heart beating out of his chest. He could have sworn he’d heard something, something more than house-noises.

When there’s nothing to find, he reluctantly steps out of the room and turns back to the kids. “Nothing,” he says.

They all hear it when the door downstairs opens, and then shuts again.

-

The sky has darkened already, making apparent the approaching winter. Saguru catches himself worrying about being caught on security footage in a neighborhood he doesn’t belong in, sneaking around like a thief in the night--nevermind he isn't sneaking at all, just on an evening walk, a student coming home from school, wrapped in a long coat to shield from the cold weather. Just because he's perhaps, possibly, conceivably, considering entering a quite certainly empty house uninvited doesn't mean he's a criminal (hah, he feels like he's taking a page out of Kuroba's book now--plausible deniability and all that).

The houses loom overhead, some windows lit, some windows dim. Inside the houses of this wealthy neighborhood, plenty of things are going on. Children watching television or doing homework, parents arguing, families sharing meals, people living life. But one house, the object of his curiosities, entirely dim (though, strangely, also perfectly manicured).

The Kudou Manor, property of none other than famous novelist Kudou Yuusaku, even more famous actress Kudou Yukiko, and perhaps nearly equal in fame to his parents' legacy (or so it sometimes felt to him), teenage detective Kudou Shin'ichi.

No member of the family was reachable, otherwise he wouldn't resort to snooping about the premises unpermitted. Kudou Yuusaku: allegedly hiding from his editors. Kudou Yukiko: unreachable, according to her agent. Saguru's own hypotheses include personal travel or keeping her husband company. And Kudou Shin'ichi--well, he's the reason Saguru feels a need to be here at all.

He never did get to meet Kudou, but he was always hearing so much about him. What had started as a mere curiosity, a desire to meet and get to know someone who was like him (that had gone so badly at the Koshien, but that didn't mean it had to go badly every time) had transformed into a concern and then a fervent, constant intrigue mixed with anxiety. Kudou Shin'ichi, vanished, but completely uninvestigated, as many of those close to him had allegedly been assured he was fine by the man himself.

Saguru had tried to tell himself not to push too hard against this mystery, not when his workload was already so heavy and all the primary leads were out of his grasp, but what kind of detective would he be if he merely let it go? After all, he had no evidence to truly suggest that Kudou Shin'ichi was not in danger. No, of the behaviors he'd managed to hear about, he was certain that the other detective was involved in something dangerous, perhaps deadly--and perhaps already gone to the world, regardless of what others said.

Saguru needed to get to the bottom of it. He had to at least try.

So here he stands, in the dark and looking up at gates that are probably locked (and might he climb them? Possibly.), weighing his options.

Saguru tells himself: if the gate is locked, he will go home. It stands resolutely before him, and when he pushes against it--

Heavy as it is, it gives. The gate is not, in fact, locked. How terribly disconcerting.

Well. He will wander around the property ( _still trespassing_ , helpfully supplied by his thoughts). See what there is that he can discern from the outside, and then try the door. It will be locked and he will have to go home. Saguru has entered properties without permission before, but it's not typically a residential, and it's always at least related to a case. An open case, that police are involved in.

The perimeter of the house: just as well-manicured as his first impression had suggested, grass cleanly cut and no sign of any activity other than yardwork. The Kudou family must pay someone to take care of their house while they’re all away. At least, he hopes that is the case - he’s heard Ran-kun talk about checking on the house from time to time and doing some minor housework. Hopefully that doesn’t include the yard, too. Regardless, maintenance by an employed individual or a friend of the family could explain the unlocked gate well enough. A small comfort.

With nothing of note to find, Saguru tentatively approaches the door. He studies it closely out of instinct, finding himself checking for signs of past forced entry. No such evidence, as far as he can tell.

With gloved hands (protecting from the cold, he justifies, not protecting against leaving behind prints), Saguru turns the knob and meets no resistance. Bracing himself and fully expecting a deadbolt or something else to stop him, he swings the door forward--and it quite simply opens. Because of course it does.

Saguru steels himself and reminds himself of his plan. Don’t meddle with anything, don’t leave any signs that he was here. This is simple reconnaissance, plain and simple. All he needs to do is see if he can discover any signs pointing to why Kudou Shin’ichi has been missing, or if he is in danger. Just enough to sate his own curiosity and concern. He has no idea what he’ll find, but he’s ready to be disappointed. But if there is a danger, he doesn’t want to alert whatever danger that exists to his interest. And even if there isn’t, well, he doubts the Kudou family would appreciate his admittedly intrusive investigation.

Saguru closes the door behind him, and starts to step forward through the entryway, torn between turning on lights and leaving them be. Best to leave things exactly as he finds them. Saguru pulls out his phone, adjusts his flashlight settings, and turns it on, casting white light around, making it significantly easier to see his surroundings.

There was little dust on the surfaces, not surprising since Mouri Ran sometimes tidied here. The unfortunate side of that fact was that even if there were evidence of Kudou Shin’ichi being in some kind of danger, it’s almost entirely likely that it’s been cleaned away by now. Saguru feels foolish for even venturing on this whole ordeal, but if nothing else, Saguru is terribly thorough--and stubborn, so he’s going to follow this through. After all, he’s come this far ( _sunk cost fallacy talking there_ ).

It’s as he advances into what appears to be a living area that a floorboard creaks. Saguru flinches and freezes, realizing the sound came not from where he is walking, but from somewhere above him.

Just the house settling. It’s older, his own does the same--

Another, and a sharp _shhh!_ following. Saguru makes out no voices that follow. Everything around Saguru is now crisp in detail, and he strains to listen, but his heartbeat deafens. Breath caught in his throat, adrenaline on the rise. He is not alone.

Someone’s here. _Run_ , says his sense of self preservation. He does not.

The room he’s in: unoccupied, a coffee table taking the center of the room, a massive floor rug, plush couches and  a window with opulent curtains. Decorations sourced from expensive, but not particularly unique, collections, a family portrait on the wall. No good place to hide, nothing he can use to defend himself. No signs of a presence there. He moves on to the next room, placing his footsteps as carefully as he can. This would be so much easier if he were more familiar with the house--but there is really no kind of preparation he could have done. Unfortunately, no amount of sneaking in his own manor house in England could prepare him for someone else’s squeaky floorboards.

A creak, this time from beneath his own feet. Saguru flinches, his breath holding, and a series of quiet footsteps sounds. Multiple people? But… from the sound of it, the weights of those footsteps were impossibly light for those of adults.

Suspicions and realizations crowding his thoughts, he now heads toward the stairs. His fear has not quite subsided, but the possibility that children are the source of the sounds he’d heard help him settle down considerably. He proceeds up the stairs, still on edge, because he is certain that the sounds he’d heard came from the floor above him.

It had sounded like children running. What are children doing in the Kudou Manor? Granted, he has no more business being here than them, but--

“Hello?” he calls down the hall, bracing himself for the consequences, turning down a corridor.

There’s no response at first. Then, from behind him: “Ha--Hakuba nii-san?”

Now that voice is one he knows. Whirling around, Saguru lays eyes on Edogawa Conan. Behind him stands a group of other grade-schoolers his age. Now that Saguru considers it, he recognizes these as being Edogawa’s usual entourage.

“Edo...gawa...kun…” Saguru sounds out, confusion and relief simultaneously overwhelming him. Although he’d concluded before finding the group that he was hearing children, it’s still nice to know that the situation is as harmless as this. But still. “Why are you here?” And them being here still doesn’t explain why the front door is unlocked.

“Why are you here?” Conan asks, an edge in his tone reminding Saguru, surprisingly, of his cagey classmate.

Saguru almost says, _I asked first_ , then reminds himself that he is speaking to a six-year-old and to perhaps just answer his question first. From the looks of it, Saguru had given the children quite a scare. “I was curious about Kudou Shin’ichi-san’s apparent absence, and was hoping I could figure some things out,” he admits. He doesn’t feel like he is setting the best example--this certainly is not model detective work. “I wouldn’t have come in at all if the door weren’t unlocked--did you unlock it?” Why Edogawa is here, he still doesn’t know, but Edogawa is more likely to have a key to get in, what with his alleged ties to Kudou and his caretaker being in possession of a spare key.

“...No,” Edogawa answers, not relaxing one bit. The tension he’s displaying no longer seems to be directed at Saguru though.

“Hi! I’m Yoshida Ayumi, I’m friends with Conan. We were looking for a ghost,” a dark-haired girl speaks up. “We thought there was maybe a ghost here, and maybe it’s Kudou Shin’ichi’s ghost? But Conan-kun was worried because the door was unlocked, so then we were looking to see if there was a thief, but maybe the door was unlocked by the ghost after all.” And then, as if an afterthought, she turns to Edogawa. “You know this person, Conan-kun?”

“Yeah,” Edogawa confirms, not even trying to explain the girl--Yoshida’s--earlier tirade. “Yes. This is Hakuba Saguru, he’s a detective I met a few months ago.”

“Sorry for not introducing myself,” Saguru offers, though he imagines the slip in manners is not a concern to them. “Like Edogawa-kun said, my name is Hakuba Saguru. I’ve worked with Edogawa-kun on a few cases.”

“We’re the Detective Boys!” Mitsuhiko announces. “We solve cases with Conan-kun too! I’m Tsubaraya Mitsuhiko, that’s Kojima Genta, Ayumi-chan just introduced herself, and this is Haibara Ai!” The freckle-faced boy, Tsubaraya, gestures to each of the other children as he takes on the introductions. Kojima is by far the tallest (and largest) of the children, and Haibara almost looks like she might be foreign, sharing similar coloring to Saguru himself.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Saguru says, trying not to breeze over the introductions, but he has far more pressing matters in mind, such as the fact that both he and the kids found the house in a similar condition. The concern of who left the door unlocked, and why, is still at hand. “So when you got here,” Saguru begins, “the door was unlocked?”

“Yes,” Edogawa confirms. “And I think I heard some movement that wasn’t you. Something in that bedroom.” The boy gestures to the room in question, whose door sits open. From the looks of it, Edogawa likely already had taken a look, but Saguru nods and resolves he will also investigate and see what he can find.

“Let me take a look,” Saguru says, stepping around the cluster of children, posture defensive. He peers behind the door, flicks on the room’s light, and even ventures as far as opening the closet and checking under the bed. Nothing.

Saguru checks the window. Closed, but unlocked. He feels a small chill.

Saguru goes back to the kids. “It looks like the window is unlocked. I don’t know if it was left like that beforehand by the Kudous or not, though.”

He notices Edogawa’s gaze darken. If Saguru were to venture a guess, he might think that Edogawa has a good idea that the window should have been locked. Regardless, this is a point of concern, and the longer Saguru is in this house with a bunch of children and a potential threat afoot, the more nervous he gets.

Nevermind the fact that these kids have apparently run into trouble in the past. No point talking about it now, but if these kids have ‘worked cases with Conan,’ as Tsubaraya put it, there’s little doubt that they’ve encountered some pretty dangerous things.

“There must have really been a thief here!” Tsubaraya concludes exuberantly. “Maybe he got scared off though, and that’s why the window’s unlocked? I think we should look for more clues and call the police.”

Tsubaraya is right. The police need to be called. Somewhat uncharacteristically of himself, Saguru manages, “I think at this point we should just leave this to the police, Tsubaraya-kun. I don’t know about you, but other than that window, my search has been fruitless, and there’s no way for us to tell if anything is missing.” And if it isn’t a thief, if it’s something much worse, then Saguru wants these kids nowhere near it. The children--particularly the noisiest three--are glaring at him stubbornly, so he backtracks. “How about we call the police _first_ ,” and he contacts Baaya so he can get himself and the kids a ride, “and keep looking while we wait.” He’s in for a massive lecture first by whatever officers show up, and then by Nakamori-Keibu and his father for all of this, he’s certain. However, he will manage. Lectures and scoldings are the least of his concerns right now.

Saguru contacts the police, then Baaya, and then sets to occupying the children. No more mysterious movements are heard for the rest of their search, but it doesn’t ease Saguru’s worries at all. When the police arrive to relieve him, he’s grateful, and the children are disappointed at the lack of leads. Detectives through and through already, even if naive ones. He could find it amusing, but more than anything it fills the pit of his stomach with dread for the kinds of things these children have and will encounter.

He gets less chewed out than he had expected. It helps that he can claim he saw the self-proclaimed Detective Boys march into the house and that he simply followed out of concern and suspicion. He provides his statement (what little he can), and knows he will be pursuing this case further on his own time. Edogawa never relaxed, seemed certain he’d heard something even if he wouldn’t talk about it anymore, so Saguru is willing to believe that there was somebody in that house other than himself and the kids. But who?

Baaya pulls up, her timing impeccable as ever, and Saguru looks to the children, who seem varying shades of dissatisfied with their venture. These are the faces of people who are used to solving their mystery before the day’s over. But for now, there’s nothing left over for them to work with at least for tonight, and he’s no miracle worker like Kudou Shin’ichi seems to be.

“My driver is here - she could give you all a ride home if you like,” he offers.

The quietest of the bunch, Haibara, who he doesn’t think he ever heard speak once, declines immediately. “I live next door, so I’ll just go home.” Her voice is subdued, and something about the way she speaks and holds herself reminds him of Edogawa, even though simultaneously they seem to be quite different. He blames his mind trying to see patterns and similarities in everything, picking everything apart even when totally unnecessary.

“Very well,” Saguru says, watching her say a goodbye and dismiss herself. She strikes him as quite introverted. “What about the rest of you?”

“Yeah! Thank you Hakuba nii-san, we would love a ride home!” Yoshida announces, her dark brown hair bobbing with her emphatic excitement. He’s glad these kids are so capable of getting excited over simple things. Glad they trust him, despite his initial missteps. The other two boys, who he catches himself thinking of as younger than Conan (although Conan is by far the smallest boy here) join Ayumi in her excitement.

Saguru opens the door for the four kids (it’s a tight fit) to pile into the back seat. Baaya arches her brow at the children clamoring in. He had warned her, but it’s still an entirely different thing to see him inviting a bunch of elementary schoolers into the car, he’s certain. He conducts a brief round of interactions, and when he introduces Baaya, the kids giggle at the use of the posh word. After determining where all the kids live, Saguru instructs Baaya what order to drop everyone off in.

“I still think we should have stayed longer and worked with the police,” Tsubaraya complains from the backseat, once the car is moving.

Saguru knows the feeling. “Me too, Tsubaraya-kun.” He angles his head to look back at them. “But in this case, there isn’t much to work with for now. The police are just going to look over everything we already did.” Whatever was there before them, there truly was no trace. At least, nothing he can pick out tonight.

And Edogawa had really wanted to get out of there, it had been clear from his body language. That said, Haibara had seemed uncomfortable as well, though didn’t exude it as much as Edogawa had. Regardless, he’d just needed to do something to help with that discomfort. It was for the best they were out of there now. And hopefully, maybe he could pick out what Edogawa had been so stressed about later.

“Yeah, I guess,” Tsubaraya grumbles. Saguru sighs, and offers the kids in the backseat a smile. They seem varying combinations of frustrated and excited, having had an exciting night regardless of answering their questions, but upset evening didn’t end with answers.

“Sometimes detective work turns out inconclusive results,” he offers.

“So what? When that happens, you just give up?” Kojima sulks.

It’s Edogawa that speaks up then. “Don’t think of it as ‘giving up,’ think of it as waiting for the criminal to make more mistakes.” This is a boy speaking from the experience of having to wait for his target to make a mistake, to leave him enough clues. It’s clear he understands how aggravating the waiting game can truly be. “If you don’t have the right information to work with, you’re stuck with making random guesses, and that’s the worst kind of detective work.”

By the time each child is dropped off, starting with Tsubaraya, then Kojima, then Yoshida, their spirits are somewhat lifted. And then it’s just Edogawa in the car with Saguru and his Baaya.

“They’re a lively bunch,” Saguru observes. “Are they your friends from school?”

“Yeah, they’re a handful,” Edogawa readily agrees, sounding more like a fond babysitter than a peer. “Once I started to realize something might be off, I tried to stop them from going in, but they just went running in without me…” The statement is punctuated by an exasperated shake of his head. Edogawa pauses, as if something has just occurred to him, and when he speaks again his voice is an octave higher. “Oh, and by the way, Hakuba nii-san. You said you were there because you were trying to figure out more about Shin’ich nii-chan! You don’t have to worry though, because I talk to him lots. He’s fine, so you don’t have to look for him.”

Saguru knows he should probably blame his overactive mind, but he could swear that Edogawa actively tries to push that sugary tone and extra childlike mode of speaking just to convince him. He feels almost like the boy is trying to deceive him. He tries to ignore the suspicion, though, because what reason would Edogawa have…? “Thank you, Edogawa-kun,” he says uncertainly, turning that question over in his head. What reason would Edogawa have to lie about Kudou Shin’ichi. While not readily available information, it’s apparent that Edogawa is close to, if not related to Kudou Shin’ichi. It’s not unbelievable at all that they communicate often, he’s heard as much from Mouri Ran and even Hattori Heiji. But something about what Edogawa is saying just doesn’t ring true.

Saguru’s mind rattles off questions: What makes you so sure he’s fine? What makes you certain that it’s definitely Kudou Shin’ichi to whom you speak? Why are you so concerned with convincing me that I shouldn’t look for him?

Saguru refrains from asking these questions, rapidfire, needing to remind himself again that this is a six-year-old, and Baaya will surely scold him for trying to conduct an interrogation.

For a little bit, they lapse into silence, and Saguru wonders if Edogawa could sense his suspicion. As they approach the Mouri Detective Agency, Saguru angles around in his seat again.

“Edogawa-kun, do you know anything about why the Kudou family’s house would have been unlocked, since you know Kudou-san so well?” Edogawa seems to regain the tension that he’d been exuding before. Saguru feels a twinge of guilt for bringing that stress back to the surface.

Edogawa clearly deliberates before answering, and this time he doesn’t seem to bother with the high-pitched, childish tone. “...Shin’ichi nii-chan is working a big case right now. I--don’t know the details, really, but...” he seems to fidget as he thinks, but that’s only natural. “If he’s gotten the attention of anyone...bad, it could mean they’re trying to look into him, too? I don’t know for sure though. I do know someone else was in the house. But I have no idea who.” Edogawa stares out the window with an intensity he shouldn’t be capable of. But of course he is, because he’s seen too much.

Saguru sighs, pinches the bridge of his nose, and looks at Edogawa earnestly. “That does sound frightening.” He halts for a moment, then before Edogawa gets out of the car, says, “If you need anything, or if you want my help, Edogawa--you have my card. You can contact me if you ever need it.” He exhales, offers a tiny smile, and then adds, “And tell Mouri-kun hello for me, please.” He’d come in and say hello himself, but he’s sure the girl is busy, and he has a lot of research to do when he gets home.

Edogawa’s features, while still guarded, soften a little at his offer, though the lightest touch of irritation enters his expression at the mention of Mouri Ran. Edogawa, ever-protective. He still sounds sincere when he says, “...Thank you, Hakuba nii-san. I will.” Whether the ‘I will’ is an acceptance of help, or an agreement to tell Mouri hello, Saguru can’t determine.

Saguru finds Edogawa’s protectiveness of hs caretaker sweet. Likely, the boy has a crush, and even if not, doesn’t like the idea of someone else occupying the girl’s time. Saguru has many times considered assuring him that he is not remotely interested romantically in her. But that isn’t a conversation for tonight, anyway.

Saguru waves goodbye as Edogawa gets out, and then quietly requests that Baaya take him home.

-

Later, Saguru is in his bedroom. Really, he should be in his study. A long time ago, he set a rule for himself that he should not conduct work in the place where he sleeps as a feeble attempt to improve his sleeping schedule. Needless to say, it is a rule he is quite bad at following. He sits at his desk, alternating between physical paper files, scrolling through news reports on his tablet, and clicking through a database he can access via his desktop. On his phone, he has an episode of the Granada Sherlock playing, more for the sake of comforting background noise.

Then a tapping sound on his window breaks his concentration.

Not for the first time today, Saguru is intimately aware of adrenaline surging through him. He rises slowly to his feet. Despite his fear response, he has a (hopeful) suspicion. Reaching for his baton (though, what that will do if the visitor has a gun and shoots him through the glass, he’s not sure), he quickly pulls the curtains to the side. A white top hat greets him.

Saguru heaves a sigh of relief, collapses the baton and puts it down. Kid waves at him emphatically, and Saguru opens his window. Before Kid can say a word, Saguru says, “You’ll be disappointed to know this is not the strangest part of my night.”

Kid gives him an amused look (because he doesn’t have any other kind) and swings himself up onto Saguru’s windowsill, perching cheerfully. “Ahh, my dear detective. You hoped to catch me by surprise, but I know exactly what you’ve been up to this very exciting evening!” he winks.

Of course Kid does. Because Kuroba was there when Saguru was talking about investigating Kudou Shin’ichi in the first place.

“Oh, did you decide to play stalker today?” Saguru inquires, equal parts sweet and irritable.

“Oh no, not at all. I just happened to be doing some scouting of my own and crossed paths with my favorite tante-san, Division One’s resident anklebiter, and company! Though none of you noticed me, how sad.” Now Kid gave a theatrical pout.

Saguru groans, pinches the bridge of his nose, renewing his patience. So it was Kid that Edogawa had heard in the Kudou Manor? “What were you doing there?” Saguru demands.

“Hey,” Kid starts, defensive. He spreads his hands placatingly. “I have no more or less business there than you, hm? We were all trespassing, after all. And besides, if I hadn’t shown up you and the kids wouldn’t have gotten in at all. You should be thanking me.”

Well, at least it was Kid and not someone more malevolent who had unlocked the door. But...why? “I’m not accusing you of anything when I ask this. I repeat myself. What were you doing there?” Kid almost seems like he might be annoyed, but his expression is distant and amused as ever even through this. Before he can say some witty retort, Saguru presses on. “I was there looking for clues that could explain more about Kudou Shin’ichi’s absence. The children were...looking for a ghost, I suppose. But I don’t know what business you would have had there. I’m just curious.” Saguru’s turn to placate.

Kid smirks, like he knows something Saguru doesn’t. Which he does, Saguru is sure. “Maybe I’m curious about a ghost too?” He snickers at Saguru’s annoyed expression. “Or maybe I’m curious about the same thing you’re curious about? Who knows? Maybe I was just out for a walk and the Kudou Manor interior was just a part of my stroll.” His non-monocled eye winks at him.

Before Saguru can get even one last word in, Kid takes his leave, somehow making a backward topple out a window look graceful. Saguru rushes to the sill, and sees no trace of the thief. Not even the sign of an impossibly far-away hang glider.

For the nth time tonight, he sighs to himself, irritably shuts and locks the window, and draws the curtains. Giving himself a moment to collect, massaging his temples and pacing, winding down, he finally settles back into his seat at his desk.

There’s a lot he’ll have to think about tonight.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I had hoped to spend more time having Saguru actively babysitting the kids and talking to them, so I feel like I failed there. This almost feels like a good set up for something longer! We'll see if I go anywhere with it. Thanks for reading. 
> 
> Happy holidays to Herosubs, I hope most of all that he enjoyed this gift from me to him. Thanks to you I wrote something for the first time in ages.


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